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Saturday, 24 December 2011

HUMBUG! Festive Football - keep up with tradition?

HUMBUG!'Tis the season to be jolly, apparently. (I keep trying to tell myself this through a chest infection that has laid me low for a couple of weeks now {sobs} and stripped me of my usual drive and inspiration ;-) )

I obviously don't mean football season 2011-2012. It could quite possibly be the season that city win the league for the first time in my lifetime - and that would hardly be very jolly, now would it? No, it is the festive time of year where we all get drunk and overeat and pretend we like each other for a few days and then make ludicrous promises to stay in touch and have the best ever next year and we honestly believe it will all be different when we are reading from a different calendar etc. etc.

(side note - could the Mayan prophecy of the end of the world as we know it in 2012 coincide with city winning the league? interesting....)

What this time of year also means is the incredibly exciting Christmas fixture programme. The rest of the world give their pampered players a week or so off to spend with family, but we Brits soldier on, crack the whip and make them play more games than ever for our festive entertainment.

I have two differing feelings in mind with regards to the football over Christmas and wondered how others feel, as debates for winter breaks rear their heads every year.

I was a strange match-going fan. I was one of the rare ones that found the Christmas games a bit of a chore. Hungover, stuffed and enjoying the short break from work that everyone you know has at the same time, giving lazy time to spend with family and friends, I found that, never one to follow the bloke's mantra of wanting a break from all the family-time, going to a match on boxing day or new year's day was often one of the last things I wanted.

However, festive football very often serves up some spectacular moments, incredible score-fests to pick through with the turkey leftovers. So much so, that in my now season-ticketless state, I have found that not having to shift my none-too-insignificant gluteus maximus from the armchair, the festive fixture list is a veritable Christmas smorgasbord of delights! I can revel in the 7 goal thrillers one minute, press a button on the remote and the skeletons in Jason and the Argonauts are just coming to life the next - no need to get cold, fight against non-existent Christmas transport or spend any of the money saved for the sales....

what have I become?....

The effect on a teams season of so many games in such a short space of time is also another great reason to continue the tradition - it really could be make or break time, depending on how the teams handle it.

What are other's views on the forthcoming fixture list? click on the comments line below the post, and ruminate away, or vote in the poll on the right.

or good old-fashioned email - let me know how I'm doing and that I'm not alone.....

Also, scroll all the way down the blog - and maybe read some of the posts on the way down- (see what I did there? clever, that) to the list at the bottom of the page, for some really rather decent reading material from other bloggers and sites.